UNSW Sydney

School of Materials Science and Engineering

Materials First Year Labs

Fracture of Materials

I declare that this is my own work.

Name: Student No:

Date:

Lab instructor:
Group: Mark:

1
Failure modes of materials

There are two ways that materials can fail under an applied static tensile load:

1. General Yielding (ductile fracture) represents the case when plastic deformation
occurs on a large-scale throughout the material before fracture.
Load
Fracture stress = Area

2. Fast Fracture (brittle fracture) represents the case when fracture occurs by rapid
propagation of an existing crack without large-scale plastic deformation.
K IC
Predicted Fracture Stress = Y √ πa
where:
KIC = fracture toughness (a material property) = 1.5 MPa √ m for Perspex/PMMA.
Y = a constant dependent on the geometry of the sample and loading conditions
= 1.12 for a notched tensile sample of the type used in this laboratory exercise.
a = crack length

From this, we can see that pre-existing cracks increase the susceptibility of a material
to failure by fast fracture. The larger the cracks or defects in a material, and the lower
its fracture toughness, the lower the stress for fast fracture.

Decreasing temperature also increases the susceptibility of a material to failure by fast

fracture, because for many materials the yield strength increases as temperature
decreases. When failure of materials occurs by fast fracture, much more energy will
be absorbed at high temperatures compared to low temperatures, because more plastic
deformation will occur at the crack tip as the crack propagates (there will be a larger
zone of plastic deformation at the crack tip). This will be seen in the fracture
surfaces at high temperatures, when a large amount of plastic deformation occurs, the
fracture surface will be very rough, whereas at low temperatures, the fracture surface
will be smoother.

These effects of pre-existing cracks and temperature on fracture of materials will be

investigated in this laboratory exercise.

Notched bar impact tests can be used to measure the resistance of a material to crack-
initiation and propagation. This resistance is known as notch toughness and may be
measured in a number of ways. This experiment uses the Charpy test, a simple
method frequently used because of its cheapness and experimental simplicity. The test
consists of using a swinging pendulum to apply an impact load of known magnitude
to a 10 mm square section bar containing a notch of standard dimensions. The energy
absorbed in fracturing the specimen is determined by measuring the energy remaining
in the pendulum, which is related to the height to which it swings after impact.

2
Laboratory Exercise

The materials to be investigated are Perspex (PMMA) and steel. The aim of this
laboratory exercise is to observe and explain the following:

(a) The concept of fast fracture.

(b) The effect of stress concentration on the fracture behaviour of materials
(PMMA)
(c) The effect of temperature on fracture toughness (Steel)

Notched and unnotched PMMA

Two PMMA samples are provided, one containing a notch to simulate the effect of a
pre-existing crack, the other with no notch.

Instructions:
 Measure the required sample dimensions (W, B and b) shown in the figure and
record tensile file
 Place the samples in the pins of the mechanical testing machine
 Very slowly (close to 0-1 mm/min) load the samples to failure
 Your demonstrator will send you the data from your days classes, calculate the
average of each value and fill out the table below
 Answer the questions below

3
For the measured values take the average of the data collected in class, also determine
the average fracture load and the error (standard deviation) in this measurement. Use
these values to calculate your answers for the rest of the table.

Measure Calculate
Fracture load Predicted
(kN) Fracture stress for Failure
B W b a mode
stress failure by
(mm) (mm) (mm) (mm)
(MPa) fast fracture
Average Error
(MPa)

Unnotched

Notched

Was there a difference in the failure mode of the samples?............................................

If so, explain why?...........................................................................................................

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4
Charpy testing of steel

The energy absorbed on impact will be measured using the Charpy test for steel at
room temperature and very low temperature.

 You will be provided with the data from your days classes, calculate the
average impact energy and the error (standard deviation) for both temperatures
and answer the questions

Temp (°C) Impact energy (J) Fracture surface appearance

Average Error

At what temperature did steel absorb more energy?........................................................

Why?................................................................................................................................

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Submission Instructions:
1. Complete and sign the front page.
2. Type your answers (No hand-written responses will be accepted)
3. Submit the report electronically using the submission link on Moodle. The report
is due one week after your laboratory.